Daphne and Velma are getting their own origin story. Warner Bros.’ Blue Ribbon Content has begun production on Daphne and Velma, a live action feature film. Sarah Jeffrey (Wayward Pines, Descendants) is playing Daphne opposite Sarah Gilman (Last Man Standing) as Velma. Suzi Yoonessi (Relationship Status) is directing from a script by Kyle Mack and Caitlin Meares. The film is being co-produced by Blondie Girl Productions and will be released in 2018. Daphne and Velma will focus on the teenage versions of the mystery-solving teens prior to joining the rest of the Scooby Gang. Speaking of, the whole gang is getting “brave and bold” in an animated crossover with Batman in January (see “Scooby and Batman Are 'The Brave and the Bold'”).

Cinedigm has acquired the North American distribution rights to The Steam Engines of Oz, an animated film based on the OGN from Arcana Studio. Written by Erik Hendrix and Sean Patrick O'Reilly with art by Yannis Roumboulias, the graphic novel offers up a steampunk twist on the Wizard of Oz stories. It was successfully Kickstarted and released in 2013. The animated film will be released in the first quarter of 2018.

J. Scott Campbell and Andy Hartnell’s Danger Girl may finally get a live action adaptation. Constantin Film, which produced the Resident Evil movies, has picked up the rights to the comic book series according to The Hollywood Reporter. The property is being developed by Bolt Pictures and Prime Universe Films for both film and television. The woman-fronted action series, which was originally released by Wildstorm and most recently homed at IDW, was at one point on track for a feature film adaptation that reportedly had Milla Jovovich, Kate Beckinsale, and Sofia Vergara attached to star (see “'Danger Girl' Movie”)

The live-action Pokemon movie has secured a lead. Justice Smith, who starred in Netflix’s The Get Down and is making an appearance in the upcoming Jurassic World sequel, will star in Detective Pikachu reports THR. Goosebumps director Rob Letterman is directing the film for Legendary (see “'Pokemon' Movie Gets a Director”), but a release date is yet to be announced.

Tiffany Haddish (Girls Trip) has scored a role in the film adaptation of The Kitchen, based on the Vertigo series from writer Ollie Masters and artist Ming Doyle (via THR). The film from first-time director Andrea Berloff (Straight Outta Compton) follows the wives of jailed Irish mobsters, who take over their husbands’ businesses in 1970s-era Hell’s Kitchen. Masters’ Snow Blind is also in development as a TV series for Fox (see “'LOTR,' 'Trollhunters' Spin-Offs, 'Orville' & 'Discovery' Renewed, 'Darkness Visible,' 'Hitman'”)

Mario and Luigi are to the big screen in an animated feature. Universal’s Illumination Entertainment secured a licensing deal with Nintendo to make a film based on Super Mario Bros. video game franchise reports the Wall Street Journal (paywalled). Nintendo has been famously reluctant to license their characters for films since the commercial and critical failure of the 1993 live action Super Mario Brothers movie. The deal comes after more than a year of talks involving Super Mario creator Shigeru Miyamoto. No further details on the film were made available. The Super Mario characters have recently appeared in a board game from USAopoly (see “USAopoly Plans 'Super Mario' Board Game”) and a special edition of Monopoly (see “Super Mario Characters Appear in 'Monopoly Gamer'”).

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